Privacy policy

Basic information on data processing and legal basis

  1. This privacy policy explains the type, scope and purpose of the processing of personal data within our online offering and the associated websites, functions and content (hereinafter jointly referred to as "online offering" or "website"). The privacy policy applies regardless of the domains, systems, platforms and devices (e.g. desktop or mobile) on which the online offer is executed.
  2. For the terms used, such as "personal data" or their "processing", we refer to the definitions in Art. 4 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
  3. The personal data of users processed in the context of this online offering includes usage data (e.g. the websites visited on our online offering, interest in our products) and content data (e.g. entries in the contact form).
  4. The term "user" includes all categories of data subjects affected by data processing. These include our business partners, customers, interested parties and other visitors to our online offering. The terms used, such as "user", are to be understood as gender-neutral.
  5. We only process users' personal data in compliance with the relevant data protection regulations. This means that user data will only be processed if we are legally authorised to do so. This means, in particular, if the data processing is necessary for the provision of our contractual services (e.g. processing of orders) and online services, or is required by law, if the user has given their consent, as well as on the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimisation and economic operation and security of our online offer within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR, in particular in the case of reach measurement, creation of profiles for advertising and security purposes). GDPR, in particular when measuring reach, creating profiles for advertising and marketing purposes and collecting access data and using the services of third-party providers.
  6. We would like to point out that the legal basis of the consents is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a. and Art. 7 GDPR, the legal basis for the processing for the fulfilment of our services and implementation of contractual measures is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b. GDPR, the legal basis for processing for the fulfilment of our legal obligations Art. 6 para. 1 lit. c. GDPR, and the legal basis for the processing for the protection of our legitimate interests Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR is.

Security measures

We take organisational, contractual and technical security measures in accordance with the state of the art to ensure that the provisions of data protection laws are complied with and to protect the data processed by us against accidental or intentional manipulation, loss, destruction or access by unauthorised persons.

  1. The security measures include in particular the encrypted transmission of data between your browser and our server.

Disclosure of data to third parties and third-party providers

Data will only be passed on to third parties within the framework of legal requirements. We only pass on user data to third parties if this is necessary, for example, on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b) GDPR for contractual purposes or on the basis of legitimate interests pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR in the economic and effective operation of our business operations.

  1. If we use subcontractors to provide our services, we take appropriate legal precautions and corresponding technical and organisational measures to ensure the protection of personal data in accordance with the relevant legal regulations.
  2. If content, tools or other means from other providers (hereinafter jointly referred to as "third-party providers") are used within the scope of this privacy policy and their registered office is located in a third country, it is to be assumed that data is transferred to the countries in which the third-party providers are based. Third countries are countries in which the GDPR is not directly applicable law, i.e. generally countries outside the EU or the European Economic Area. Data is transferred to third countries either if there is an adequate level of data protection, user consent or other legal authorisation.

Contact us

If you send us enquiries via the contact form, your details from the enquiry form, including the contact details you provide there, will be stored by us for the purpose of processing the enquiry and in the event of follow-up questions. We will not pass on this data without your consent.

  1. The data entered in the contact form is therefore processed exclusively on the basis of your consent (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). You can revoke this consent at any time. All you need to do is send us an informal email. The legality of the data processing operations carried out until the revocation remains unaffected by the revocation.
  2. We will retain the data you provide on the contact form until you request its deletion, revoke your consent for its storage, or the purpose for its storage no longer pertains (e.g. after fulfilling your request). Mandatory statutory provisions - in particular retention periods - remain unaffected.

Comments and contributions

  1. If users leave comments or other contributions, their IP addresses are stored on the basis of our legitimate interests within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR for 7 days. GDPR for 7 days.
  2. This is done for our security in case someone leaves illegal content in comments and posts (insults, prohibited political propaganda, etc.). In this case, we ourselves can be prosecuted for the comment or post and are therefore interested in the identity of the author.
  3. We also use the Antispam Bee plugin, which compares the IP addresses of commenters with known spam emails and filters them out.

Collection of access data and log files

  1. We collect on the basis of our legitimate interests within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR, we collect data about every access to the server on which this service is located (so-called server log files). The access data includes the name of the website accessed, file, date and time of access, amount of data transferred, notification of successful access, browser type and version, the user's operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), IP address and the requesting provider.
  2. Log file information is stored for security reasons (e.g. to investigate misuse or fraud) for a maximum of seven days and then deleted. Data whose further storage is required for evidence purposes is excluded from deletion until the respective incident has been finally clarified.

Cookies & reach measurement

Cookies are pieces of information that are transferred from our web server or third-party web servers to the user's web browser and stored there for later retrieval. Cookies can be small files or other types of information storage.

  1. We use "session cookies", which are only stored for the duration of the current visit to our online presence (e.g. to enable the storage of your login status or the shopping basket function and thus the use of our online offer at all). A randomly generated unique identification number, a so-called session ID, is stored in a session cookie. A cookie also contains information about its origin and the storage period. These cookies cannot store any other data. Session cookies are deleted when you have finished using our website and, for example, log out or close the browser.
  2. Users are informed about the use of cookies in the context of pseudonymised reach measurement as part of this privacy policy.
  3. If users do not want cookies to be stored on their computer, they are asked to deactivate the corresponding option in the system settings of their browser. Stored cookies can be deleted in the system settings of the browser. The exclusion of cookies can lead to functional restrictions of this online offer.
  4. You can opt out of the use of cookies used for reach measurement and advertising purposes via the deactivation page of the Network Advertising Initiative (http://optout.networkadvertising.org/) and additionally the US-American website (http://www.aboutads.info/choices) or the European website (http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices/) contradict.

Google Analytics

 On the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimisation and economic operation of our online offer within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR), we use Google Analytics, a web analysis service provided by Google Inc. GDPR) Google Analytics, a web analysis service of Google Inc. ("Google"). Google uses cookies. The information generated by the cookie about the use of the online offer by the user is usually transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there.

  1. Google is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus offers a guarantee of compliance with European data protection law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active).
  2. Google will use this information on our behalf to analyse the use of our online offer by users, to compile reports on the activities within this online offer and to provide us with further services associated with the use of this online offer and the use of the Internet. Pseudonymised user profiles can be created from the processed data.
  3. We use Google Analytics to display adverts placed by Google and its partners within advertising services only to those users who have also shown an interest in our online offering or who have certain characteristics (e.g. interests in certain topics or products determined on the basis of the websites visited) that we transmit to Google (so-called "remarketing" or "Google Analytics audiences"). With the help of remarketing audiences, we also want to ensure that our adverts correspond to the potential interest of users and are not annoying.
  4. We only use Google Analytics with activated IP anonymisation. This means that the IP address of users is truncated by Google within member states of the European Union or in other signatory states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and truncated there.
  5. The IP address transmitted by the user's browser will not be merged with other Google data. Users can prevent the storage of cookies by setting their browser software accordingly; users can also prevent Google from collecting the data generated by the cookie and relating to their use of the online offer and from processing this data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available under the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de.
  6. Further information on the use of data by Google, setting and objection options can be found on Google's websites: https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/partners ("Data use by Google when you use our partners' websites or apps"), http://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads ("Use of data for advertising purposes"), http://www.google.de/settings/ads("Manage information that Google uses to show you adverts").

Google Re/Marketing Services

On the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimisation and economic operation of our online offer within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR), we use the marketing and remarketing services ("Google Marketing Services") of Google Inc. GDPR) the marketing and remarketing services ("Google Marketing Services" for short) of Google Inc, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, ("Google").

  1. Google is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus offers a guarantee of compliance with European data protection law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active).
  2. Google marketing services allow us to display adverts for and on our website in a more targeted manner in order to present users only with adverts that potentially match their interests. If, for example, a user is shown adverts for products that they have shown an interest in on other websites, this is referred to as "remarketing". For these purposes, when our and other websites on which Google marketing services are active are accessed, a code from Google is executed directly by Google and so-called (re)marketing tags (invisible graphics or code, also known as "web beacons") are integrated into the website. With their help, an individual cookie, i.e. a small file, is stored on the user's device (comparable technologies can also be used instead of cookies). The cookies can be set by various domains, including google.com, doubleclick.net, invitemedia.com, admeld.com, googlesyndication.com or googleadservices.com. This file records which websites the user has visited, what content they are interested in and which offers they have clicked on, as well as technical information about the browser and operating system, referring websites, time of visit and other information about the use of the online offer. The IP address of the user is also recorded, whereby we inform Google Analytics that the IP address is shortened within member states of the European Union or in other signatory states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and only in exceptional cases is it transmitted in full to a Google server in the USA and shortened there. The IP address is not merged with the user's data within other Google services. Google may also combine the aforementioned information with such information from other sources. If the user subsequently visits other websites, they can be shown adverts tailored to their interests.
  3. User data is processed pseudonymously as part of Google marketing services. This means that Google does not store and process the user's name or email address, for example, but processes the relevant data in relation to cookies within pseudonymous user profiles. This means that, from Google's perspective, the adverts are not managed and displayed for a specifically identified person, but for the cookie owner, regardless of who this cookie owner is. This does not apply if a user has expressly allowed Google to process the data without this pseudonymisation. The information collected by Google marketing services about users is transmitted to Google and stored on Google's servers in the USA.
  4. The Google marketing services we use include the online advertising programme "Google AdWords". In the case of Google AdWords, each AdWords customer receives a different "conversion cookie". Cookies can therefore not be tracked via the websites of AdWords customers. The information collected with the help of the cookie is used to create conversion statistics for AdWords customers who have opted for conversion tracking. AdWords customers find out the total number of users who clicked on their advert and were redirected to a page with a conversion tracking tag. However, they do not receive any information that can be used to personally identify users.
  5. We can integrate third-party adverts on the basis of the Google marketing service "DoubleClick". DoubleClick uses cookies to enable Google and its partner websites to display adverts based on users' visits to this website or other websites on the Internet.
  6. We can integrate third-party adverts on the basis of the Google marketing service "AdSense". AdSense uses cookies to enable Google and its partner websites to display adverts based on users' visits to this website or other websites on the Internet.
  7. We can also use the "Google Optimiser" service. Google Optimiser allows us to track the effects of various changes to a website (e.g. changes to input fields, design, etc.) as part of so-called "A/B testing". Cookies are stored on users' devices for these test purposes. Only pseudonymised user data is processed.
  8. We may also use the "Google Tag Manager" to integrate and manage Google analytics and marketing services on our website.
  9. Further information on the use of data for marketing purposes by Google can be found on the overview page: https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/adsGoogle's privacy policy is available at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy retrievable.
  10. If you wish to object to interest-based advertising by Google marketing services, you can use the setting and opt-out options provided by Google: http://www.google.com/ads/preferences.

Facebook social plugins

  1. On the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimisation and economic operation of our online offer within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR), we use social plugins ("plugins") of the social network facebook.com, which is operated by Facebook Ireland Ltd. GDPR) social plugins ("plugins") of the social network facebook.com, which is operated by Facebook Ireland Ltd, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland ("Facebook"). The plugins can display interaction elements or content (e.g. videos, graphics or text contributions) and are recognisable by one of the Facebook logos (white "f" on a blue tile, the terms "Like", "Gefällt mir" or a "thumbs up" sign) or are marked with the addition "Facebook Social Plugin". The list and appearance of Facebook social plugins can be viewed here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/.
  2. Facebook is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus offers a guarantee of compliance with European data protection law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC&status=Active).
  3. When a user accesses a function of this online offering that contains such a plugin, their device establishes a direct connection with the Facebook servers. The content of the plugin is transmitted by Facebook directly to the user's device and integrated into the online offering. User profiles can be created from the processed data. We therefore have no influence on the scope of the data that Facebook collects with the help of this plugin and therefore inform users according to our level of knowledge.
  4. By integrating the plugins, Facebook receives the information that a user has accessed the corresponding page of the online offering. If the user is logged in to Facebook, Facebook can assign the visit to their Facebook account. If users interact with the plugins, for example by clicking the Like button or leaving a comment, the corresponding information is transmitted directly from your device to Facebook and stored there. If a user is not a member of Facebook, it is still possible for Facebook to find out their IP address and store it. According to Facebook, only an anonymised IP address is stored in Germany.
  5. The purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and use of the data by Facebook, as well as the relevant rights and setting options for protecting the privacy of users, can be found in Facebook's data protection information: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.
  6. If a user is a Facebook member and does not want Facebook to collect data about them via this online service and link it to their membership data stored on Facebook, they must log out of Facebook and delete their cookies before using our online service. Further settings and objections to the use of data for advertising purposes are possible within the Facebook profile settings: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads or via the US-American site http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or the EU side http://www.youronlinechoices.com/. The settings are platform-independent, i.e. they are adopted for all devices, such as desktop computers or mobile devices.

AddThis social plugins

  1. Our website uses social plugins ("plugins") from the bookmarking service AddThis, which is operated by AddThis LLC, Inc. 8000 Westpark Drive, Suite 625, McLean, VA 2210, USA ("AddThis"). The plugins are usually labelled with an AddThis logo, for example in the form of a white plus sign on an orange background.
    An overview of the AddThis plugins and their appearance can be found here: https://www.addthis.com/get/sharing
  2. When you access a page on our website that contains such a plugin, your browser establishes a direct connection to the AddThis servers. The content of the plugin is transmitted by AddThis directly to your browser and integrated into the page. Through the integration, AddThis receives the information that your browser has accessed the corresponding page of our website and stores a cookie on your end device to identify your browser. This information (including your IP address) is transmitted directly from your browser to an AddThis server in the USA and stored there. AddThis uses the data to create anonymised user profiles, which serve as the basis for a personalised and interest-based advertising approach to visitors to websites with AddThis plugins. The purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and use of the data by AddThis can be found in the AddThis privacy policy: http://www.addthis.com/privacy/privacy-policy
  3. If you wish to object to the future collection of data by AddThis, you can set an opt-out cookie, which you can download from the following link: http://www.addthis.com/privacy/opt-out
  4. You can also completely prevent the AddThis plugins from loading with add-ons for your browser, e.g. with the script blocker "NoScript" (http://noscript.net/).

Integration of third-party services and content

  1. On the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimisation and economic operation of our online offer within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR), we use content or service offers from third-party providers within our online offer. GDPR) content or service offers from third-party providers in order to integrate their content and services, such as videos or fonts (hereinafter uniformly referred to as "content"). This always presupposes that the third-party providers of this content recognise the IP address of the user, as they would not be able to send the content to their browser without the IP address. The IP address is therefore required to display this content. We endeavour to only use content whose respective providers only use the IP address to deliver the content. Third-party providers may also use so-called pixel tags (invisible graphics, also known as "web beacons") for statistical or marketing purposes. Pixel tags can be used to analyse information such as visitor traffic on the pages of this website. The pseudonymous information may also be stored in cookies on the user's device and may contain, among other things, technical information about the browser and operating system, referring websites, time of visit and other information about the use of our online offer, as well as being linked to such information from other sources.
  2. The following presentation provides an overview of third-party providers and their content, together with links to their data protection declarations, which contain further information on the processing of data and, in some cases already mentioned here, options for objection (so-called opt-out):

Rights of the users

  1. Users have the right, upon request and free of charge, to receive information about the personal data that we have stored about them.
  2. In addition, users have the right to rectification of inaccurate data, restriction of processing and erasure of their personal data, if applicable, to assert their rights to data portability and, in the event of the assumption of unlawful data processing, to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority.
  3. Users can also revoke their consent, in principle with effect for the future.

Deletion of data

  1. The data stored by us will be deleted as soon as it is no longer required for its intended purpose and the deletion does not conflict with any statutory retention obligations. If the user's data is not deleted because it is required for other and legally permissible purposes, its processing will be restricted. This means that the data is blocked and not processed for other purposes. This applies, for example, to user data that must be retained for commercial or tax law reasons.
  2. In accordance with legal requirements, the retention period is 6 years pursuant to Section 257 (1) HGB (trading books, inventories, opening balance sheets, annual financial statements, commercial letters, accounting vouchers, etc.) and 10 years pursuant to Section 147 (1) AO (books, records, management reports, accounting vouchers, commercial and business letters, documents relevant for taxation, etc.).

Right of objection

  1. Users can object to the future processing of their personal data in accordance with the legal requirements at any time. The objection can be made in particular against processing for direct marketing purposes.

Changes to the privacy policy

  1. We reserve the right to amend the privacy policy in order to adapt it to changed legal situations or in the event of changes to the service and data processing. However, this only applies with regard to declarations on data processing. If user consent is required or components of the privacy policy contain provisions of the contractual relationship with the users, the changes will only be made with the consent of the users.
  2. Users are requested to inform themselves regularly about the content of the privacy policy.
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